June 4th, 2002
by 50cyg
Summary: A short story in which Taichi wants to go to a very special soccer match. It's pretty ambiguous, so it can take place within 02′s canon. Taiyama, Taito. Author's Notes at the end.


"I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go!"

Yamato heaved a heavy sigh. He was lying on the couch in his living room, bass guitar in hand, plucking away, while admittedly tuning out most of Taichi's incessant whining.

"I don't get it," Yamato finally addressed the pouting teenager after several minutes of hoping he would just drop it and shut up. "You weren't this upset about not being able to go a few months ago."

"I didn't know then that Blue Impulse would be performing." Taichi responded from where he was lying on the floor, stomping his foot as he did so.

Yamato paused his playing momentarily as he tried to place the name. He gave up when nothing immediately came to mind. "Who?"

"What do you mean who? Do you ever listen to me when I talk?" Taichi complained, as he turned his head slightly to look at him.

This caused Yamato to huff in annoyance before asking "What type of bass is this?"

Taichi looked taken aback by the question. He lifted himself up on his arms, presumably to get a better look at the instrument. After a few seconds of staring at it with his eyebrows furrowed he responded "A red one?"

"She's a 1969 Fender Mustang" Yamato replied swiftly before asking "What song was I playing earlier on my harmonica before you went off on your tangent?"

"Wha? I… I don't know, why are you asking?" Then his eyes widened and he slumped over in embarrassment. "Okay I get it," he said begrudgingly. "Blue Impulse is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force."

When Yamato raised his eyebrow Taichi spoke again, "They do tricks with their planes in the air" he made a looping motion above himself with his hand, "for show," he added as an afterthought. "If you followed the Winter Olympics in Nagano you probably saw them, they performed that year. That was my first time seeing them. They were amazing!"

Yamato didn't really follow sports, except baseball. He'd rather play the sport than watch someone else play it. He did enjoy sitting in on the occasional Olympic game though. He couldn't deny it was quite the spectacle, but aerobatic aircrafts weren't ringing any bells. Still, it was finally starting to click why Taichi wanted to go so badly. "So, they'll be performing at the opening?" He had forgotten that these types of tournaments often had performances before the match.

"Yeah, and it's going to be unforgettable I just know it. The lineup this game is really good too. Suzuki's style is so unique, I really want to see it in person, and…"

At this point Yamato chose to tune Taichi out once again, and return to his plucking. After letting him go on for what he felt was a sufficient amount of time he said frankly "You know you can't afford the tickets. Just let it go." It was true, the starting price was over 22,000 Yen, and Taichi didn't have a job.

"I can't believe my two passions are meeting up like this and I'm going to miss it!" he threw his hands over his face in frustration.

"You aren't going to miss it, you can still watch it on TV."

"It's not the same."

Yamato knew it was true. It was like the difference between being at a concert and seeing it on TV, but he couldn't handle this amount of pouting from Taichi. It wasn't even the cute pouting, it was just the annoying kind.

Taichi heaved a very heavy sigh and stilled in defeat.

No further words were spoken for a while as Taichi stared blankly up at the ceiling and Yamato continued to pluck his bass, unsure of what to say. He didn't like seeing Taichi still upset, but was relieved that he had at least stopped whining. Though now, having nothing to focus on, Yamato's mind began to wander. He thought of the way Taichi's face lit up even while watching amateur games, and how euphoric he was when Yamato had gone with him to the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum. Tickets would cost more than all of Yamato's savings he'd earned from his gigs thus far. He could borrow the remainder from his father, it wouldn't be the first time, but it still seemed like too much to spend on a soccer match. Yet Yamato knew it would be completely worth it to see the look on Taichi's face, not just when he gave him his ticket, but the whole way through the opening performance and the match.

"Piano Man" Taichi said suddenly.

"What?"

"The song you were playing earlier, it was 'Piano Man'… I just remembered."

"Oh… yeah, it was."

"Sorry."

Yamato smiled, "So, you want to fly with Blue Impulse one day? Or would you rather be one of the players on the field?"

"Dunno, I'm still thinking about it."

"Me too", Yamato responded, only to clarify a moment later, "about my future that is."

The boys sat in silence for a few more minutes before Taichi spoke. "I like the one you were playing the other day. It was new… to me at least."

"The other day?" Yamato had to think for a moment before he remembered. "Oh, right," he said as a blush slowly formed on his cheeks.

"What's that one called?"

"I don't remember," he lied.

"Huh? No way." Taichi looked skeptical but didn't pressure him further. "Can you play it again?"

Yamato didn't respond with words but leaned his bass gently up against the side of the couch before picking up his harmonica and raising it to his lips. He blew into it and the cheerful tune of "Head Over Feet" filled the room.

 **Author's Notes:**

The title is a reference to the date of the match Taichi wants to go to. The match is Japan vs Belgium in the 2002 Fifa World Cup.

Takayuki Suzuki really was on the field that day. He is well known for his defensive pressure on other defenders to force them to make mistakes, that is what makes his style different from others. I actually looked up all the players that were on the field that day and chose him because I thought Taichi might single him out due to this trait.

Shout out to my friend (DeAlice)'s awesome bass playing boyfriend who tipped us off on the fact that Yamato has a 1969 Fender Mustang in 02. Due to how expensive this bass would be to purchase nowadays (and also in the early 2000s) we HC that the bass is a hand me down from his father. Unfortunately, in Tri he often has a Sting Signature bass instead of the 1969 Fender Mustang. Due to the similarities in the outer designs of the two, we think it's likely an animation error on the part of the Tri animators, so we are sticking with the 1969 Fender Mustang. Plus, this fic does not take place in the Tri timeline so the 02 bass is the important one.

Also, DeAlice was the one who inspired me to make Yamato refer to his bass with female pronouns.

Blue Impulse performed at the Winter Olympics in 1998 which were held in Nagano.

Based on my research I believe the pricing of the tickets is accurate, but don't quote me.

No one will ever ever take away the fact that Taichi loves airplanes from me. I know it is never directly stated in the Adventure Universe but he loves them in V-Tamer and I choose to believe he loves them in Adventure as well. You can pry this HC from my cold dead hands! It is honestly one of my favourite things about Taichi. While we are on the subject, I also HC that Taichi's goggles have the same backstory in Adventure as they do in V-tamer, and this is another HC you can pry from my cold dead hands.

Hope you enjoyed 😊


End file.
